Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Baby Animals
The Baby Animals are an Australian hard rock band active from October 1989 to 1996 and reformed in 2007. The original line-up was Frank Celenza on drums, Suze DeMarchi on lead vocals and guitar. Dave Leslie on guitar and backing vocals and Eddie Parise on bass guitar and backing vocals. They recorded two studio albums, Baby Animals (September 1991) – which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and Shaved and Dangerous (August 1993) – which reached No. 2. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 the group won three trophies: Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist – Album for Baby Animals and Breakthrough - Single for "Early Warning". Baby Animals was listed in the 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010). The reunited line-up are DeMarchi, Leslie, Dario Bortolin on bass guitar and Mick Skelton on drums and percussion. Their fourth studio album, This Is Not the End, was issued in May 2013, which reached the top 20.
The Baby Animals were formed in Sydney in October 1989 by Frank Celenza on drums (ex-Boys, Bamboo Curtain, DD and the Rockmen); Suze DeMarchi on lead vocals and guitar (ex-Photoplay, the Kind, DD and the Rockmen), Dave Leslie on guitar and backing vocals (ex-Swingshift); and Eddie Parise on bass guitar and backing vocals (ex-Boys, Bel Aires, Bamboo Curtain). De Marchi, from Perth, had previously recorded three solo singles with EMI in the United Kingdom.
Upon her return to Perth in July DeMarchi contacted former bandmate Celenza to form a new band in Sydney. He was initially reluctant to go but recommended another former bandmate, Parise. In Sydney, DeMarchi approached her then-manager, John Woodruff (The Angels, Diesel [ex-the Kind, with DeMarchi]), who signed the new group and referred Leslie to her. Celenza then officially joined. Woodruff later recalled "I'd seen [DeMarchi] in London performing some bad Stock Aitken and Waterman tunes on television late one night. I found her and she turned out to be Australian. She also turned out to have a lot of attitude. I brought her back to Australia and put a band together around her."
The band's first performance was in November 1989 at the Kardomah Café in Sydney, where they were billed as Woody's Heroes, then they worked the city's pub and club circuit. According to Kerrang! magazine's writer, Celenza provided the new name, Baby Animals, after seeing an ad for a local TV show, Wheel of Fortune, hosted by "Baby" John Burgess. Another version suggests the name came from a calendar in a mall. In a New Zealand magazine, RTR Sounz, DeMarchi indicated that they changed the story of the name's origins in different interviews as they were bored with that question.
Baby Animals were assisted by the Angels including one of their demos, "Break My Heart", on the B-side of the established band's single, "Dogs Are Talking" (April 1990). "Break My Heart" was co-written by DeMarchi and Parise. The single also included a track each, from two other new rock and roll bands – the Desert Cats and the Hurricanes – a national tour by the Angels followed with all three new bands supporting.
In August 1990 Baby Animals signed a publishing deal with SBK Songs (later EMI Music Publishing). After attending a gig, Terry Ellis, president of newly formed Imago Recording Company, signed them to his label, funded by BMG. Ellis described the performance, "the band was great, the songs were terrific and to me Suze clearly had that indefineable magic that separates one artist from the crowd and makes them a star."
The band flew to New York to record their debut eponymous album, Baby Animals, at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock and Second City Studio, Long Island with ex-pat Australian Mike Chapman producing. DeMarchi said of the production process: "He very rigidly made us pull things back and just concentrate on the essence of the song rather than being fancy. Mike was the taskmaster – 'Let me hear the hooks'. Like Early Warning - that tag at the beginning 'too young to know too old to listen' - Mike said 'I'm going to take that part of the chorus, let's put that at the front; that's the hook'."
Woodruff had organised for his band to work with Chapman and Kevin "Caveman" Shirley (audio engineer): "I had never met [Chapman], I knew his work. I'd listened to everything he'd ever done... I thought 'if we can drag him out of retirement to get the song structure right'... Susie was writing great songs and great sentiments, but the structure wasn't quite there. I thought if I can then convince him to work with a young rude engineer, which turned out to be [Shirley], and you couldn't get much younger or ruder than that, then I'm going to end up with a record that has an edge to it, that has some tone to it, that has some rock and roll and that has some feel to it that's as edgy as she is but with great songs."
Hub AI
Baby Animals AI simulator
(@Baby Animals_simulator)
Baby Animals
The Baby Animals are an Australian hard rock band active from October 1989 to 1996 and reformed in 2007. The original line-up was Frank Celenza on drums, Suze DeMarchi on lead vocals and guitar. Dave Leslie on guitar and backing vocals and Eddie Parise on bass guitar and backing vocals. They recorded two studio albums, Baby Animals (September 1991) – which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, and Shaved and Dangerous (August 1993) – which reached No. 2. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1992 the group won three trophies: Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist – Album for Baby Animals and Breakthrough - Single for "Early Warning". Baby Animals was listed in the 100 Best Australian Albums (October 2010). The reunited line-up are DeMarchi, Leslie, Dario Bortolin on bass guitar and Mick Skelton on drums and percussion. Their fourth studio album, This Is Not the End, was issued in May 2013, which reached the top 20.
The Baby Animals were formed in Sydney in October 1989 by Frank Celenza on drums (ex-Boys, Bamboo Curtain, DD and the Rockmen); Suze DeMarchi on lead vocals and guitar (ex-Photoplay, the Kind, DD and the Rockmen), Dave Leslie on guitar and backing vocals (ex-Swingshift); and Eddie Parise on bass guitar and backing vocals (ex-Boys, Bel Aires, Bamboo Curtain). De Marchi, from Perth, had previously recorded three solo singles with EMI in the United Kingdom.
Upon her return to Perth in July DeMarchi contacted former bandmate Celenza to form a new band in Sydney. He was initially reluctant to go but recommended another former bandmate, Parise. In Sydney, DeMarchi approached her then-manager, John Woodruff (The Angels, Diesel [ex-the Kind, with DeMarchi]), who signed the new group and referred Leslie to her. Celenza then officially joined. Woodruff later recalled "I'd seen [DeMarchi] in London performing some bad Stock Aitken and Waterman tunes on television late one night. I found her and she turned out to be Australian. She also turned out to have a lot of attitude. I brought her back to Australia and put a band together around her."
The band's first performance was in November 1989 at the Kardomah Café in Sydney, where they were billed as Woody's Heroes, then they worked the city's pub and club circuit. According to Kerrang! magazine's writer, Celenza provided the new name, Baby Animals, after seeing an ad for a local TV show, Wheel of Fortune, hosted by "Baby" John Burgess. Another version suggests the name came from a calendar in a mall. In a New Zealand magazine, RTR Sounz, DeMarchi indicated that they changed the story of the name's origins in different interviews as they were bored with that question.
Baby Animals were assisted by the Angels including one of their demos, "Break My Heart", on the B-side of the established band's single, "Dogs Are Talking" (April 1990). "Break My Heart" was co-written by DeMarchi and Parise. The single also included a track each, from two other new rock and roll bands – the Desert Cats and the Hurricanes – a national tour by the Angels followed with all three new bands supporting.
In August 1990 Baby Animals signed a publishing deal with SBK Songs (later EMI Music Publishing). After attending a gig, Terry Ellis, president of newly formed Imago Recording Company, signed them to his label, funded by BMG. Ellis described the performance, "the band was great, the songs were terrific and to me Suze clearly had that indefineable magic that separates one artist from the crowd and makes them a star."
The band flew to New York to record their debut eponymous album, Baby Animals, at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock and Second City Studio, Long Island with ex-pat Australian Mike Chapman producing. DeMarchi said of the production process: "He very rigidly made us pull things back and just concentrate on the essence of the song rather than being fancy. Mike was the taskmaster – 'Let me hear the hooks'. Like Early Warning - that tag at the beginning 'too young to know too old to listen' - Mike said 'I'm going to take that part of the chorus, let's put that at the front; that's the hook'."
Woodruff had organised for his band to work with Chapman and Kevin "Caveman" Shirley (audio engineer): "I had never met [Chapman], I knew his work. I'd listened to everything he'd ever done... I thought 'if we can drag him out of retirement to get the song structure right'... Susie was writing great songs and great sentiments, but the structure wasn't quite there. I thought if I can then convince him to work with a young rude engineer, which turned out to be [Shirley], and you couldn't get much younger or ruder than that, then I'm going to end up with a record that has an edge to it, that has some tone to it, that has some rock and roll and that has some feel to it that's as edgy as she is but with great songs."